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Vaping Guide For Beginners

July 25, 2018

Welcome to the vaping guide for beginners. There is a lot to cover and we will do our best to keep it short. Vaping has changed a lot over the last few years. We have gone from e-cigarette devices that were nothing more than just a battery to sophisticated vaping mods with dozens of functions. We have gone from sketchy vape juice made in a garage to advanced formulations like Freeman Vape Juice made is a cutting edge lab staffed by chemistry PhDs. Vaping is better than ever.

For people just starting out on their vaping journey, however, the most sophisticated vape is not always the best choice. Quite often, the best bet in the beginning is to keep it simple. As the saying goes, you have to crawl before you walk. New vapers are best advised to stick to simple, MTL devices. What is MTL? We will get to that shortly!

In fact, to understand vaping you need to know the basic terminology. We will cover the essential terminology. But any beginner vaping guide has to start at the very beginning. What is vaping? That’s where we will start.

What Is Vaping?

What is vaping? The simple answer is that vaping is using an electronic cigarette to generate a vapor which is then inhaled. Yes, instead of smoke, the “vaper” inhales vapor! The vapor is generated by heating a liquid. The liquid, also called e-liquid or vape juice, usually contains nicotine. The intent is to avoid combustion and the well-known dangerous byproducts of combustion. Vaping is intended only for adult tobacco consumers. If you don’t smoke, don’t vape!

Vaping can be confusing. There are a number of different styles and a huge range of technologies. For adult tobacco consumers, vaping can be a flavorful and satisfying experience. But it is very important to choose the right product. Especially for beginning vapers. To understand the products and what they do, it is crucial to understand the terms.

Vaping Terminology

Walking into a vape shop can be a very intimidating experience. Most of the time, the shop will try to sell an advanced mod and sub ohm tank system. That is great! But not ideal for beginning vapers. Back at the beginning of the Vaping Guide for Beginners, we mentioned that new vapers should consider an MTL device. MTL stands for mouth to lung, which describes how the vapor is inhaled. All of that and more will be explained. Let’s go!

Vaping - vaping is using and electronic cigarette to vaporize an e-liquid which can be inhaled. Intended only for adult tobacco consumers.

Electronic Cigarette - and electronic cigarette is an electronic device that converts e-liquid into vapor. An e-cigarette is made up of three parts:

Battery - usually a rechargeable battery.

Atomizer - the part that converts battery power into heat to vaporize the e-liquid. The atomizer is defined by the type of metal it is made of and its electronic resistance.

E-Liquid Reservoir - the part of the e-cig that contains the e-liquid. Most often a cartridge, pod, or a vape tank.

Cigalike - the type of electronic cigarette that looks like a tobacco cigarette.

Vape Juice - the liquid that is converted into vapor.

Vape Mod - A larger vape device with more battery capacity and capable of higher power outputs. Vape mods can have either built-in batteries or external batteries. A vape mod can be either regulated or unregulated.

Regulated Mod - a vape mod that controls the power output or temperature. Regulated mods also have a number of safety features designed to prevent accidents.

Unregulated Mod - a vape mod that draws raw power from the battery without any safeguards. Unregulated mods are not recommended.

Vape Tank - a vape tank is a device that contains vape juice and the atomizer coil.

RTD / RDA - vape devices where the user builds and installs coils. Building your own coils may not be the best method for vaping for beginners. RTAs and RDAs are favored by more experienced vapers.

Dripping and Squonking - more advanced forms of vaping where the user manually saturates the coil and wick.

Wick - the absorbent material that is saturated by e-liquid. Usually Japanese organic cotton.

Coil - the heating element that comes in contact with and vaporizes vape juice.

Types Of Vaping

MTL - mouth to lung vaping is when the user draws vapor into the mouth and then inhales. This is the more familiar style for most adult tobacco smokers. MTL is often the preferred vaping style and the style that we recommend for our vaping guide for beginners.

DL or DTL - Direct Lung or Direct to Lung vaping is when the user draws the vapor directly to the lungs. DL vaping is done with devices that use atomizers with resistance levels less than 1.0 ohms.

Temperature Control Vaping - vaping DL with subohm atomizers that are capable of temperature control. Atomizer materials such as stainless steel or nickel allow a temperature control vapor device to control the temperature of the coil metal.

Coils

At this point it is important to pause and review what we have learned in our vaping guide for beginners. We have provided a lot of information and we do not want to go into overload. We have talked about regulated and unregulated mods. If you do decide to go with a mod, we advise choosing a regulated mod. A regulated mod allows the user to select the power or temperature setting. Also, regulated mods have safety features that can help prevent accidents or burning out the vape coils.

Vapers can either buy pre-made vape coils or make their own coils. Coil building is very popular for experienced vapers. However, new vapers would do well to begin vaping with pre-made, disposable coils. Pre-made coils last 10 days to three weeks depending on how much you vape. Changing vape juice and coils is straightforward but it is important to prime coils before vaping. When you install a new coil, allow it to sit in a filled vape tank for 10 minutes so that the wick can fully saturate.

In addition, we want to clarify what temperature control vaping is. Temp control, or TC, is when you control the temperature of the coil as opposed to how much power the coil draws. For example, is you set a coil for 400 degrees, the amount of power required to get the coil to 400 degrees will vary. A TC (temp control) mod will draw whatever power is necessary to reach 400 degrees. TC vaping can be more efficient with an excellent quality device.

Vape Juice Types

Vape juice is also called e-juice, e-liquid, or sometimes just juice! What is vape juice? Vape juice is the liquid that is converted into vapor. Vape juice is made up of the following three ingredients:

PG or propylene glycol - a food, cosmetic, and medicine additive found in everything from foods to asthma inhalers to toothpaste.

VG or vegetable glycerin - a food and cosmetic additive sometimes used as a food preservative. Commonly found in lotions.

Nicotine - the nicotine in vapor is normally extracted from tobacco plants. Look for companies that use the highest purity nicotine from American labs.

The amount of PG in an e-liquid vs. VG will be labelled on the bottle. PG is a thinner liquid that makes a harder hitting and flavorful vapor. VG does not carry flavor as well, but produces far more vapor.

E-liquids that are at least 50% PG are designed for vapor devices with atomizers above 1.0 ohms.

E-liquids with at least 59% PG are designed for MTL vaping.

PG e-liquid nicotine levels range from 6 mg to 24 mg. Because there is less vapor produces than with VG liquids, a higher nicotine content helps make the vaping more satisfying.

E-liquids that have more VG than PG are called VG e-liquids. VG juices usually have 70% or 80% VG. Max VG e-liquids are probably closer to 92%.

VG vape juice is made for vape devices with atomizers less than 1.0 ohms.

The nicotine levels for VG e-liquids range from 0 mg to 6 mg. Because there is so much vapor produced in sub ohm vaping, less nicotine is required to experience a fulfilling vape.

Vaping Guide For Beginners: Choosing Nicotine Level

In terms of vaping for beginners, a standard vaping device works best with VG e-liquids. We recommend a 50/50 e-liquid. As far as choosing the right nicotine level for vaping, that can be tricky! To really figure it out it may require some trial and error. Here are a couple of vaping guide suggestions:

Nicotine Levels For VG Vape Juice

Remember VG e-liquids generate more vapor so not as much nicotine is required.

0 mg - non-nicotine vaping

3 mg - light to moderate

6 mg - stronger nicotine hit

Our vape juice at Freeman is 80VG and 20PG. Freeman juice is designed for sub ohm mods, drippers, and squonkers. If you have a standard, beginner vape kit then Freeman Vape Juice is not the right juice for you. If you have a sub ohm or temp control vape, then Freeman Vape Juice is the best!

That wraps up our guide. While you are here, check out our latest flavors and specials. For VG e-liquids, Freeman makes the best tasting vape juice! If you are new to vaping and have any other questions, don't hesitate to ask us!

Also in Vape news and reviews

The company that brought us Mesh coils has a new tank! And, new mesh coils, including a stainless steel option. Our Freemax Mesh Pro review will give you the details. If I was cooler, I might have said deets, but I like details. Anyway, we gave this tank an aggregate score of 8.8 out of 10. A very good value and awesome flavors.

Looking for a 200 watt box mod? The Geekvape Nova review will help you decide if this is the one! The Nova is lightweight and offers a different look with resin panels. The kit comes with the Cerberus sun ohm tank and super mesh coils. Right now, this is just a preview. We will add more details after we test it out.

What is the top vape juice? We think all of Freeman's top rated e-liquids are the best! And we can tell you what our best sellers are and share with you real, unedited customer reviews. We are proud of our flavors and our quality. We will tell you a bit about that, too!

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CALIFORNIA PROPOSITION 65 Warning: Nicotine products contain a chemical known to the state of California to cause birth defects or other reproductive harm. Do not use if you are pregnant, and/ or breastfeeding.

These products are intended for use by persons 18 or older, and not by children, women who are pregnant or breast-feeding, or persons with or at risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, or taking medicine for depression or asthma. If you have a demonstrated allergy or sensitivity to nicotine or any combination of inhalants, consult your physician before using this product. This product is sold purely for recreational purposes – it is not a smoking cessation product and has not been tested as such.

Let customers speak for us

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I am a picky vaper, and I keep buying juices I hate. Everything is either too sweet or too fake tasting. I was on vaca with my dad and he introduced me to Freeman's "Jungle." This is the best vape juice I have ever smoked. The flavour is real tasting. It is not too sweet, I like the blend of fruits, and the clouds are big! The shipping was fast and the prices are really, really good. Also, my order arrived across the country in 2 days! I would recommended for a picky fruit vape lover!